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Pop-Up Gin Bar Returns to Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo This Autumn

Published on : Friday, November 3, 2017

Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo’s pop-up gin bar returns this autumn following great success in 2015 and 2016. This year, the pop-up will open in the hotel’s 37th floor Sense Tea Corner from 1 to 30 November.

Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo was one of Japan’s early pioneers of craft gins and this year three distinct selections will be offered to guests; Roku, Craft Gin Okayama and Japanese Gin Wa Bi Gin. Each gin uses widely differing mixes of Japanese botanicals to achieve their distinct flavours.

Roku, from Suntory Spirits, incorporate six Japanese botanicals, including Sencha tea and Gyokuro, selected to reflect the country’s seasons. Craft Gin Okayama from Miyashita Sake Brewery is Japan’s first aged craft gin and uses white peach from the Okayama prefecture as one of its botanicals. Japanese Gin Wa Bi Gin by Hombo Shuzo uses nine botanicals from the Kagoshima area, including ginger, yuzu, shiso and kinkan. Prices start from YEN 2,000.

In addition to savouring gins straight or with tonic, guests can enjoy four cocktails prepared by the hotel’s dynamic mixologists. Cocktails include Smoked Peach Pot, priced at YEN 2,800, which uses a Craft Gin Okayama base, infused with leaves from the hotel’s signature Oolong and bergamot tea and combined with Okayama peach juice and purée served by tea pot.

The sweet Mitarashi cocktail, priced at YEN 2,300, uses Roku gin and homemade Mitarashi paste, topped with floating soymilk whipped cream, and is served with three small shiratama rice cakes and salt kelp for dipping. The creamy Zen Garden, priced at YEN 2,500, marries Sencha-infused Roku and Macha homemade cream. The citrusy, sweet and sour Wabisabi, priced at YEN 2,300, blends Japanese Gin Wa Bi Gin with honey, ginger and yuzu juice, and is decorated with a shiso and kinkan garnish.

Guests can enjoy these enticing gins within the sophisticated surroundings of Sense Tea Corner, while admiring the views of Tokyo, visible through the tearoom’s floor-to-ceiling windows and then extend the evening by ordering four paired seasonal snacks, priced from YEN 1,500. A Tasting Flight, featuring samples of Roku, Craft Gin Okayama and Japanese Gin Wa Bi Gin, priced at YEN 2,700, is anticipated to be a popular choice as well.

For the ultimate experience, gin aficionados can reserve space for the Japanese Craft Gin Premium dinner at the Cellar on the hotel’s 37th floor for 15 November, priced at YEN 18,000 per head for a maximum of 10 guests.